Patent trolls – LODGINGhttp://lodgingmagazine.com
Official Publication of AHLA. LODGING covers hotel news and hospitality industry stories.Thu, 24 May 2018 15:41:38 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.6AH&LA Unveils 2015 Policy Agendahttp://lodgingmagazine.com/ahla-unveils-2015-policy-agenda/
http://lodgingmagazine.com/ahla-unveils-2015-policy-agenda/#respondThu, 29 Jan 2015 19:52:11 +0000http://lodgingmagazine.com/?p=16552Without a doubt, 2015 will be a good year for the hotel industry. More united and engaged than ever before, we are poised to build on the success of the past 12 months. In 2014, AH&LA achieved its largest membership in history, ending the year with nearly 20,000 members—representing half of the entire hotel industry. Our high level of engagement led to the completion of key accomplishments, increased visibility, and record involvement. Congress passed Brand ...

]]>Without a doubt, 2015 will be a good year for the hotel industry. More united and engaged than ever before, we are poised to build on the success of the past 12 months.

In 2014, AH&LA achieved its largest membership in history, ending the year with nearly 20,000 members—representing half of the entire hotel industry. Our high level of engagement led to the completion of key accomplishments, increased visibility, and record involvement. Congress passed Brand USA reauthorization to encourage international travel to the United States, and we successfully blocked some local extreme wage initiatives, including those in San Diego and Rhode Island. Furthermore, in just the first few weeks of 2015, Congress reauthorized the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) and made progress on another priority for our industry, restoring the definition of a full-time workweek under the Affordable Care Act to the traditional 40 hours.

While these actions are a sign that we can expect real progress, our work has just begun. AH&LA recently unveiled its 2015 policy agenda, which focuses on key policy areas we believe could greatly affect the hotel industry in the coming year.

LABOR POLICY AND THE FRANCHISE MODEL
The vast majority of our nation’s hotels are franchisees, and in most cases they are small, independently owned and operated businesses. These entrepreneurs have poured their time and money into their properties and are used to working independently from their parent company. In so many ways, the success of the hotel industry is dependent on the franchisor/franchisee relationship. However, recent efforts by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seek to upend this long-standing relationship. As an industry, we support policies and regulations that ensure a fair and equitable working environment for both employees and employers.

LOCAL EXTREME WAGE INITIATIVES
Across the country, local and state governments have been proposing wage increases for the rapidly growing hospitality industry. In many cases, those wage increases are simply too high and implemented too fast, making it extremely difficult for the industry to absorb them without serious consequences for its workforce. In certain cities, some of these increases specifically target the hotel industry. AH&LA will work with officials at all levels of government to ensure fair and reasonable increases, but we also cannot—and will not—stand by when a city singles out hotels.

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Congress has begun working to revise parts of the Affordable Care Act, most notably the existing definition of a full-time employee. Enacting legislation to change this definition back to 40 hours and making other adjustments to make this law work better for American businesses and employees, whether through the regulatory or legislative process, are high priorities for AH&LA. We are committed to working with Congress and the Obama Administration to make necessary changes that ensure our industry can continue to provide quality, affordable health insurance to its employees and their families.

TECHNOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION ISSUES
Innovation is key to the hotel industry’s continued success, yet it is critical to ensure that new uses of technology do not harm consumers. For example, deceptive practices that trick consumers into believing they are booking directly with hotels that lead to falsely branded call centers or lead them to believe that they are participating in branded rewards points programs are a concern to our industry. We will also continue to advocate for a level playing field between the hotel industry and online travel companies when it comes to local and state tax collections. Finally, short-term online rental companies, such as Airbnb, and their hosts who operate as a business should not be able to skirt local, state, and federal tax and regulatory laws that protect consumers and support communities.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
A continued focus on increasing the flow of foreign visitors to the United States through a number of important initiatives is critical to generating and maintaining the growth of the hotel industry. Implementation of policies such as the Jobs Originated through Launching Travel (JOLT) Act or other changes that expand the availability of visas for foreign visitors without compromising security remain a high priority for AH&LA.

PATENT REFORM
In recent years, patent trolls have significantly increased the number of harmful, frivolous lawsuits and threats of lawsuits filed against hotels. To address this issue, AH&LA helped assemble the leading pro-reform coalition, composed of a broad spectrum of industries, including restaurants, realtors, home builders, and technology companies, and will be leading efforts to pass strong federal legislation.
The hotel industry has a strong track record of growing the economy and adding new jobs to the marketplace and is well positioned to face the challenges ahead. In the coming weeks and months, AH&LA will work tirelessly to transform our challenges into successes.

Vanessa Sinders is senior vice president, government and political affairs at AH&LA.

]]>http://lodgingmagazine.com/ahla-unveils-2015-policy-agenda/feed/0Patent Reform Can’t Waithttp://lodgingmagazine.com/patent-reform-cant-wait/
http://lodgingmagazine.com/patent-reform-cant-wait/#respondMon, 05 Jan 2015 17:06:39 +0000http://lodgingmagazine.com/?p=16440As we look ahead to the new Congress, there is much speculation about gridlock and entrenched political warfare. However, both parties should find common ground in ending the egregious abuses of our patent system by so-called patent trolls. Patent trolls take advantage of vague or poor-quality patents to threaten expensive litigation and extract costly settlements from their unsuspecting victims. The lodging industry has been a particular target; hundreds of hotels have been hit with suits ...

]]>As we look ahead to the new Congress, there is much speculation about gridlock and entrenched political warfare. However, both parties should find common ground in ending the egregious abuses of our patent system by so-called patent trolls.

Patent trolls take advantage of vague or poor-quality patents to threaten expensive litigation and extract costly settlements from their unsuspecting victims. The lodging industry has been a particular target; hundreds of hotels have been hit with suits claiming they owed a patent owner thousands of dollars simply for providing Wi-Fi services to their guests. If a hotel refuses to pay, the troll threatens to it to court.

Last Congress, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and I made enormous progress on legislation to stop patent trolls. We weren’t able to complete our work this past year, but I remain committed to this fight and am confident that we will be able to win it. The reason for my confidence and commitment is simple: The problem of patent trolls isn’t going away on its own. To the contrary, every indication is that it’s getting worse.

In 2007, patent assertion entities were responsible for 24 percent of all patent lawsuits. This alone is disturbing, but even more disturbing is that it went up to 58 percent by 2012. And the trolls are savvy about how they are filing cases. Of the 6,092 patent cases filed in 2013, nearly 25 percent were in a single court, the Eastern District of Texas. And 941 cases, 15 percent of the national total, were filed in front of a single judge in that district. The plaintiff-friendly courts in the District of Delaware were not far behind, shouldering almost 22 percent of the nation’s patent cases last year.

Because of the breadth of the problem, there is an enormous coalition pushing for change, and I know it will not give up. In late April, a group of nearly 400 companies ranging from Adobe to Macy’s to White Castle, as well as trade associations like AH&LA, signed a letter supporting a compromise package Sen. Cornyn and I put together. These supporters reflect the diversity of interests that recognize the system needs reform.

Just because there is broad recognition that a problem exists does not mean a solution is clear or easy. While we must do everything to stop patent trolls from abusing the system, we cannot do so at the expense of legitimate businesses that make legitimate investments in research and development of patents and deserve to protect their technologies. We’ve been seeking a balance that will effectively block trolls without unintended consequences on legitimate patent holding businesses.

Sen. Cornyn and I worked together to find compromises that we believed would address the legitimate concerns we heard about patent reform legislation without undermining the solutions. While our proposal did not carry the day last spring, we will continue working to pass meaningful legislation that addresses the very real damage trolls are doing to our economy.

I said several times over the course of this debate that I was unwilling to support legislation that would not actually solve the problem and that it was better to wait and get legislation right than to quickly pass something that would not work. Victims of patent trolls have been waiting patiently over the last year; they should rest assured that we’re going to keep working to pass effective patent reform legislation, and we’re going to get it right.

Chuck Schumer is a senior U.S. senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party.

]]>http://lodgingmagazine.com/patent-reform-cant-wait/feed/0Assessing the Midterms’ Impact on Lodginghttp://lodgingmagazine.com/assessing-the-midterms-impact-on-lodging/
http://lodgingmagazine.com/assessing-the-midterms-impact-on-lodging/#respondTue, 11 Nov 2014 17:57:51 +0000http://lodgingmagazine.com/?p=15226The new Senate Republican Majority, combined with a larger House Republican Majority, will significantly alter the policy landscape for the business community and the lodging industry, says the government affairs team at AH&LA. The association anticipates a busy year legislatively that includes smaller, targeted measures getting to the President’s desk and being signed into law, though likely not any grand compromises on issues like immigration or the nation’s fiscal policy. When it comes to issues ...

]]>The new Senate Republican Majority, combined with a larger House Republican Majority, will significantly alter the policy landscape for the business community and the lodging industry, says the government affairs team at AH&LA. The association anticipates a busy year legislatively that includes smaller, targeted measures getting to the President’s desk and being signed into law, though likely not any grand compromises on issues like immigration or the nation’s fiscal policy. When it comes to issues impacting the lodging industry, here’s what AH&LA expects to come down the pike:

LABOR
With Congress’ new focus on oversight of the Administration, AH&LA believes this agenda will include added Congressional scrutiny and discussion regarding the recent NLRB decision on joint employer and other onerous labor related regulations.

“These are huge issues for our industry, which Congress will be addressing through the appropriations process,” said Brian Crawford, AH&LA’s vice president of government and political affairs. “What I mean by that is, they will attach defunding amendments or riders to appropriations bills that they will hopefully be able to pass definitely out of the House and possibly out of the Senate and send them to the President. This is going to force the President to either come back to the table and negotiate with Congress or veto legislation, which will begin the process anew. Regardless, I think it’s going to highlight the overreach the business community sees within the Administration when it comes to labor relations issues.”

Additionally, there is the possibility of a minimum wage debate occurring, particularly in the Senate, as 2016 in-cycle members in competitive states may want to take this issue off the table and forge a compromise. AH&LA has been battling dramatic wage hikes on the state level, and has had victories thus far in San Diego and Rhode Island.

“I think you’re going to see a renewed effort by the Obama Administration, but possibly also by Republicans eying the nomination for the White House, to try to get the minimum wage issue off the table,” Crawford said. “The President has proposed $10.10 phased in over a number of years. I think that it is plausible that you might see a minimum wage vote out of the Senate some time during the next Congress. The real question is going to be, will the conservative House take up a vote to raise the minimum wage?”

IMMIGRATION
While it was expected that the President would issue an executive order in the coming weeks that would address undocumented workers, the results of the election could alter the President’s thought process. Any executive action on immigration will undoubtedly cause a negative reaction from House and Senate Republicans and would dampen prospects for Congressional action on immigration. That said, both House and Senate GOP leadership have expressed an interest in potentially tackling this issue in 2015, and we could see some smaller targeted actions to “fix” the executive order or address enforcement and/or business concerns later in the year.

“I think if the President were to take executive action, that would be a short-term fix because it would only last until the end of his presidency,” Crawford said. “Congress, specifically the House, might have an incentive to try to get this done prior to the 2016 election cycle. Unfortunately, one of the key issues we’ve been working on here at AH&LA, which is H2B visa reform, has not been part of the discussions coming out of the White House with regards to addressing the undocumented workers in the United States. So it remains to be seen what the President will do on immigration reform, but we do expect he will proceed, and that might come some time in December.”

HEALTH CARE
AH&LA anticipates that the new Congress will vote on another repeal of the Affordable Care Act and follow that with action on smaller bills to change burdensome and unworkable parts of the law.

“I think it’s important to note that repealing Obamacare is not a political reality,” Crawford said. “You would need to have 60 votes in the Senate, and then you would also have to convince the President to repeal his signature legislative achievement, which is never going to happen. But there are legislative fixes that can be passed through the House and the Senate.”

Legislation to change the definition of full-time from 30 to 40 hours is at the top of the list, as well as a repeal of the medical device tax, the definition of small business, and a delay or repeal of the employer mandate.

The House passed the Save American Workers Act back in April to restore the traditional 40-hour work week, but the Senate did not take action on its own version of this legislation. In response, AH&LA partnered with the employer community to launch a new campaign called More Time for Full Time.

“This will be a huge priority for us the beginning of next Congress,” Crawford said. “(Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell also said they’re going to plan on repealing medical device tax and also trying to repeal the employer mandate. From my personal opinion, that’s pie in the sky because that’s tantamount to repealing Obamacare. So I think that probably won’t happen but that might be an issue they bring up to try to pacify the conservatives.”

PATENTS
Patent reform likely provides the best, early opportunity for a legislative win in 2015, AH&LA said. Both House and Senate Republican leaders on this issue have stated their intent to revisit legislation quickly.

“The House passed the patent reform bill in late 2013, and the Senate was very active last year trying to get to a compromise but they just couldn’t get there,” said Vanessa Sinders, AH&LA’s senior vice president and department head of government affairs. “Senate Republican leadership John Cornyn, who was very involved on patent issues this past year, has made comments that he wants to take this up, as have other members, as have House Republican folks too. That’s something that we’re going to be focusing on here at AH&LA. We’re going to be part a new kind of Main Street coalition, working with the tech companies to reach a compromise. I think it could be a good win early in the year.”

BRAND USA
Negotiations continue to pass BrandUSA reauthorization before the end of the year. With the House passing its reauthorization legislation on such a strong vote this past summer, and the Senate already moving companion legislation through the committee process, the prospect of BrandUSA reauthorization becoming law is relatively high.

“The Senate has taken committee action on it, and so we’re hopeful that that can potentially become part of an end-of-year larger legislative package, like get attached to the continuing resolution or omnibus appropriations bill,” Sinders said. “We’ll continuing working on both of those.”

TERRORISM RISK INSURANCE ACT (TRIA)
AH&LA is hopeful that final action on a long-term TRIA extension occurs in the coming weeks during the lame duck session. The Senate passed its reauthorization bill earlier this year on a huge bipartisan vote, but action has stalled in the House.

“That is a huge priority for the industry and something we’ve been working on for a long time,” Sinders said. On Nov. 5, AH&LA and 80-plus hotel industry organizations sent a letter to House leadership calling on them to act. “We’re really looking for the House to take a leadership position and pass something so we can get this done before the end of the year.”

AIRBNB AND SHORT-TERM ONLINE RENTALS
The new Republican majority may also make it more difficult to have Congressional oversight over achieving a level playing field within the short-term online rental marketplaces (STORM) and underscores that a state and local strategy is critical. In particular, reaching out to conservative leaning groups and stakeholders at the grass roots level, and highlighting safety and security concerns, will be essential, AH&LA said.

“I think we’re going to have to redouble our efforts with conservatives,” Sinders said. “It’s also a reason and reinforces the need we talked about all along for our strategy on short-term online rentals to focus on a state and local effort because that’s where a lot of these decisions are made. Combine that with the fact that there is this new Republican majority, and I think that makes it even more important.”

]]>http://lodgingmagazine.com/assessing-the-midterms-impact-on-lodging/feed/0Lodging Industry Supports Patent Reform Billhttp://lodgingmagazine.com/lodging-industry-supports-patent-reform-bill/
http://lodgingmagazine.com/lodging-industry-supports-patent-reform-bill/#respondMon, 18 Nov 2013 21:40:49 +0000http://lodgingmagazine.com/?p=8191Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Committee member Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) joined together Nov. 18 to introduce legislation to protect businesses and innovators who are being improperly targeted by so-called “patent trolls.” The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013 would increase transparency in patent ownership, customers who are sued for patent infringement by allowing the case against them to be stayed while the manufacturer litigates the suit, target the widespread sending ...

]]>Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Committee member Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) joined together Nov. 18 to introduce legislation to protect businesses and innovators who are being improperly targeted by so-called “patent trolls.”

The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013 would increase transparency in patent ownership, customers who are sued for patent infringement by allowing the case against them to be stayed while the manufacturer litigates the suit, target the widespread sending of frivolous demand letters, and improve resources for small businesses that are targeted in patent infringement suits, among other provisions. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is an original cosponsor of the bill.

“America’s patent system is the envy of the world, but unfortunately some bad actors are misusing the system to sue unsuspecting consumers or extort monetary settlements by making misleading demands,” Leahy said. “When small businesses in Vermont and across the country are threatened with lawsuits for offering wi-fi to their customers or using document scanners in their offices, we can all agree the system is not being used as intended.”

The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA), the sole national association representing all segments of the U.S. lodging industry, is a big proponent of the bipartisan bill. In August the association joined 50 other organizations and signed a letter requesting reform against patent abuse.

“The hotel industry is seeing a disturbing rise in the number of frivolous lawsuits filed by predatory entities known as ‘patent trolls,’ often against small ‘mom and pop’-sized businesses without the resources to fight costly legal battles,” said Katherine Lugar, AH&LA president/CEO. “These hotels and other end users are being targeted simply for offering wireless Internet access for guests, safety communications between employees, and online ordering services—and the overall result is an $80 billion hit on our economy each year.”

Lugar continued, “The lodging industry appreciates Chairman Leahy’s willingness to work towards providing protections for the rights of legitimate patent holders and address the growing problem of frivolous lawsuits filed by patent trolls against the small businesses that are the foundation of the U.S. economy.”

]]>http://lodgingmagazine.com/lodging-industry-supports-patent-reform-bill/feed/0Hotels Seek Patent Reformhttp://lodgingmagazine.com/hotels-seek-patent-reform/
http://lodgingmagazine.com/hotels-seek-patent-reform/#respondWed, 07 Aug 2013 01:41:03 +0000http://www.lodging.dreamhosters.com/?p=2462Last month, the American Hotel and Lodging Association was one of 50 organizations that signed a letter to Congress requesting reform for patent abuse. According to Kevin Maher, senior vice president of governmental affairs for AH&LA, patent trolls are no longer focusing solely on the tech industry and have moved on to targeting other businesses, including hotels. “Patent litigation has been going on for a long time,” says Maher, “but there has been a trend ...

]]>Last month, the American Hotel and Lodging Association was one of 50 organizations that signed a letter to Congress requesting reform for patent abuse. According to Kevin Maher, senior vice president of governmental affairs for AH&LA, patent trolls are no longer focusing solely on the tech industry and have moved on to targeting other businesses, including hotels.

“Patent litigation has been going on for a long time,” says Maher, “but there has been a trend over the last few years where these firms are buying up patents, and they’re using the patents not to develop a particular product, but to file lawsuits against businesses that they claim have violated these patents.”

The hotel industry has been targeted for out-of-the-box solutions and commonplace practices such as providing Wi-Fi to guests, developing online shopping carts, and offering wireless check-in and check-out procedures. In most cases, patent assertion entities target individual hotels and ask for monetary settlements of anywhere from $5,000 and $10,000. In some instances, the companies also demand royalty fees for continued use of a particular service.

Last year, patent trolls sued over 7,000 defendants and sent thousands more threat letters. This activity cost the U.S. economy $80 billion in 2011, and companies made $29 billion in direct payouts. Maher explains that hotels are forced to waste time and resources fighting these lawsuits.

“We’re trying to demonstrate the broad impact of this issue,” says Maher. “There’s some education that needs to be done because some members of Congress just think about this on the technology side. We’re letting them know that this has expanded to other businesses.”

If patent trolls continue to target the hotel industry, technological progress could stall, as more hoteliers will be hesitant about implementing new products or services that may result in patent litigation in the future.

The letter addressed to Congress was signed by organizations such as the American Banking Association, the American Hospital Association, the International Franchisers Association, and the National Retail Federation to name a few. To continue urging reform, the AH&LA is setting up one-on-one meetings with Congress to address this issue, and is committed to working with the Administration to make changes to how patents are issued and enforced by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“We’re not trying to impede patents or creativity,” says Maher. “But we need to do this in a way that can be reasonably enforced and encouraged.”